1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to golf clubs and more particularly, to golf club "woods", including the driver. The angled hosel golf club of this invention is characterized by a hosel connected to the clubhead at the back of the clubhead away from the face, rather than the front of the clubhead or near the face, as in conventional woods and the hosel is angled toward the face of the clubhead at a predetermined face angle. This predetermined face angle is selected to help prevent slicing or hooking, as desired, and is measured from the intersection of the club shaft and a vertical line extending through the outermost face projection, or from a vertical line projecting through the tip of the shaft at or near the bottom of the clubhead and the centerline of the shaft. In a preferred embodiment the tip of the shaft in the clubhead is about 11/4 to about 13/4 inches to the outermost projection of the face. This positioning of the hosel and shaft in angular relationship with respect to the face of the clubhead insures that the golfers' hands are always located ahead of the ball on impact when the club is swung, except where the angle of inclination of the shaft is 0.
Conventional golf club "woods", including the driver, are designed such that the hosel is located near the face of the club. In fact, on most conventional woods, the face is set at a standard loft angle and is a continuation of the hosel at the heel of the club and the tip of the shaft extends to near the bottom of the clubhead approximately 0.75 inches from the centerline of the shaft to the outermost part of the face. These clubs are also characterized by a standard lie, which is generally about 55 degrees. Accordingly, when conventional "wood" clubs are oriented such that the shaft is in a horizontal plane with the club face directed toward the target, the clubhead will rotate in the clockwise direction, away from the target, when viewed from the grip. In contrast, when placed in the same position, the clubhead of the angled hosel golf club of this invention will rotate in a counterclockwise direction, toward the target, when viewed from the grip. This weighting of the offset hosel golf clubhead and orientation of the shaft and hosel with respect to the clubhead at a selected face angle, or the angle measured between the vertical at the club face and the centerline of the club shaft or between the vertical and shaft at the clubhead, aids in rotation of the wrists to follow through at the end of the driving swing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional "wood" golf clubs are designed with more or less standard lie and face loft and the hosel, or shaft mount is attached to the clubhead at the face and heel of the club such that the face is substantially molded into the hosel. The center of gravity of the conventional clubhead is thus positioned rearwardly of the point of attachment of the shaft and hosel to the clubhead.
Golf clubs of various design have long been known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 1,436,579, dated Nov. 21, 1922, to C. W. Dayton, details a "Golf Club" wherein the shaft and clubhead extend at an acute angle with respect to each other. The clubhead is constructed of wood or metal and a base is secured to the underface of the clubhead, which base gradually decreases in thickness toward each end and side, to present a rounded surface at the underface of the clubhead. The clubhead further includes multiple striking faces located on both sides and at the rear area. U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,478, filed Mar. 17, 1986, to D. C. Long, details a "Golf Putter Head", wherein the mass of the head is distributed to establish a locus for the center of mass approximately one-half of the way along the length of the blade. U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,422, filed Jul. 26, 1985, to James R. Soloman, details another "Golf Putter" characterized by a head having a heel, toe and multiple surfaces, including a planar striking surface, a rear surface and a sole surface extending between the planar striking surface and the rear surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,976, dated Jul. 5, 1988, to Pelz, entitled "Putter", includes a head, shaft and a ball-striking face having a center of mass disposed at least 10 centimeters behind the striking face to create an improved effective polar moment of inertia. The design also includes a "shaft force axis" disposed at a position relative to the center of mass to create a "self-aligning" stability force throughout the acceleration portion of the putting stroke. Another "Golf Putter" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,477, dated Oct. 27, 1987, to James R. Soloman. The golf putter includes a head having a planar striking surface and a horizontal extension from the head positions the shaft in a vertical plane, one-half to two inches rearwardly of the head. The extension provides the connecting link between the shaft and the rear surface of the head and locates the center-of-gravity of the head between the shaft and the ball to be stroked when the head is in the striking position relative to the ball. U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,877, dated Aug. 1, 1989, to John H. Scalf, details yet another "Golf Putter". The putter includes a putter head having vertical impact face and an elongated shaft member angularly disposed in an offset relationship in two distinct planes relative to the flat rear surface of the putter head, such that a golf ball may be propelled toward the golf cup in shuffleboard fashion. Another "Golf Club" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,253, dated May 1, 1990, to Charles A. Tesori. The clubhead assumes an L-shaped configuration which is symmetrical about a vertical axis and includes a vertical wall having a horizontally-disposed top surface and a horizontal wall extending behind the vertical wall. A center flange is located behind the vertical wall and contains a top surface that is coplanar with the top surface of the vertical wall and a pair of end flanges are located at the toe and heel ends of the horizontal wall immediately behind the front wall. A vertically-disposed slot extends downwardly between the vertical front wall and the three flanges to a depth such that the effective center of mass at the front striking face of the club lies below the center of a golf ball. The shaft of the golf club projects downwardly into the center flange of the clubhead and is positioned immediately behind the vertical wall of the club, at about the effective center of mass. The club can thus be swung like a pendulum through an arc that lies in the plane of intended travel of the golf ball to impart overspin on the ball.
It is an object of this invention to provide an angled hosel golf club wherein the hosel is attached to the clubhead in spaced, angular relationship with respect to the club face.
Another object of the invention is to provide an angled hosel golf club wherein the hosel is attached to the clubhead at a point from about 11/4 inches to about 13/4 inches from the point of termination of the shaft in the clubhead to the outermost projection at the base of the face at a selected angle, to facilitate location of the hands ahead of the ball on impact when the club is swung.
Another object of this invention is to provide a "wood" golf club wherein the hosel is mounted on the clubhead at a point measuring about 11/4 inches to about 13/4 inches from the centerline of the shaft in the clubhead to the outermost projection of the club face at a selected face angle to help prevent slicing and hooking, depending upon the chosen face angle.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an offset hosel golf club which is characterized by a club shaft terminated in the clubhead near the back of the club at a point from about 11/4 inches to about 13/4 inches from the centerline of the shaft to the outermost part of the face at a selected face angle, wherein the club head rotates toward the target when the shaft is oriented in a horizontal plane.